Midlothian edges out Louisa County girls in Region 4A East quarterfinals

By Liz Keller
Scrimmageplay.com contributor
MINERAL — Midlothian broke to a big first-quarter lead and used its postseason experience to prevail over Louisa County 63-54 in the 4A East quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
The Trojans (16-9) advance to the region semifinals on Thursday and secured a berth in the state tournament with the win, while the loss ended the Lions’ banner season. Louisa reached the region tournament by winning its first district title in two decades and capturing the Conference 19 crown.
Midlothian jumped out to a 15-0 first-quarter lead behind solid perimeter shooting before the Lions climbed back into it with a 12-2 tear to end the frame, much to the delight of the large home crowd on hand for the contest.
“The atmosphere here was great. I’ve seen them play a couple of times and they always come back — they’re just a tough team,” Midlothian coach Adam Layton said. “I told our kids just to keep playing because they are going to come and they just kept coming. Luckily, we held them off.”
The Trojans extended their lead to double digits again in the second quarter thanks to good looks underneath and a pair of timely threes. Midlothian connected on seven 3-pointers in the game.
However, the Lions didn’t go quietly, rallying to trim the deficit to three points in the third. 
Tyi Skinner sparked Louisa with a steal, then dished the ball to Carmella Jackson for the easy basket underneath. The Lions used the same play on their following possession to cut the lead to 36-28.
Nia Lloyd answered with a bucket on the other end before Louisa scored six straight points to get back into it. Anna Agee and DaNikqua Marshall hit back-to-back jumpers and Skinner scored underneath to make it 38-34 with 5:38 to play in the quarter.
A basket from Marshall on a nifty pass from Agee cut the lead to 39-36. For the next few minutes, Louisa kept pace with the visitors, and a jumper from Skinner cut the lead to 47-44.
“We just settled down and started playing our brand of basketball. When we did that, we were getting good looks and open shots,” Louisa coach Nick Schreck said. “We were getting out in transition and getting easy points. When you put yourself in that kind of hole to start the game, you’ve got to use a lot of energy to get yourself back. Unfortunately, tonight, it just was too big a hole for us. We just had a breakdown defensively. We haven’t had that a lot this year and that’s why we’ve been able to win these close games.”
The Lions (19-5) weren’t able to get closer than three points, however. Tina Lindenfeld buried a three to give the Trojans some momentum. Lloyd added a basket and Lindenfeld converted a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 54-44 by the end of the frame. Lindenfeld finished with a team-high 17 points, including a 7 of 9 performance from the free-throw line.
Louisa was able to stay in it until the end, as Skinner hit an off-balance 3-pointer to trim the lead to 58-54 with under a minute remaining. The sophomore guard poured in a game-high 24 points.
Lindenfeld helped Midlothian, which lost to Monacan in the state finals two years ago, secure the win with a three-point play as well as a pair of free throws down the stretch.
Jaylin Luster finished with 13 points, and Lloyd tallied 10. Agee and Jackson contributed nine points apiece, while Marshall added eight.
Despite the loss, Schreck was pleased with his team’s resilience.
“We don’t quit — and that’s probably the one thing I’m most proud of with this group,” Schreck said. “We could have easily packed it up down 15-0 and said ok, it’ a blowout. Last year we probably would have. This year, we’re starting to see a change in the culture that we’ve been trying to get — fighting and scrapping for everything.”
Schreck spoke glowingly about his six seniors, which include Agee, Marshall, Cheyanne Baldini, Avisha Terry, Dakota Baldini and Kavia Terry. The group was instrumental in helping the team complete a turnaround from a five-win season two years ago.
“They’ve been with this program since the earthquake [in 2011] and they had to travel for practices and games,” Schreck said. “For them to stick with this program and continue to work even when they’re not winning any basketball games and have a good attitude and come to practice and listen — that’s just a tribute to the girls. It speaks volumes to their character.”

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